Memory of Feeling
by Editor-Bug
Summary: Finn's been over Princess Bubblegum for a while now. He's grown so much as a person because of it. But he's afraid some tiny bit of him might still have feelings for her. He thinks through how to deal with these feelings...whatever they are. All about Fubblegum, but not a shipfic. ONE-SHOT! Read & review if you like!


(A/N: Hey uh I recently rewatched AT and it's still really important to me, so I wanted to write something kinda special for it. And it actually turned out about as well as I expected. Hope you enjoy.)

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Stepping quickly, Finn made his way up through Princess Bubblegum's castle. The monarch had called, merely telling him to hurry and claiming she'd explain everything once he arrived. All he knew was that she had some mission for him. He scurried down a hall and (after a brief knock) cracked the door to her office open.

"Yo, Prubs? Sorry Jake isn't here, I couldn't get ahold of him. Pretty sure he's at Prismo's again."

The princess looked up from her high-tech suitcase, which she was filling with various items from her desk. "Oh, that's alright, Finn, it should be doable for you alone."

"So, what was the big rush?"

"All in due time..." She continued packing. "I've been meaning to ask, how are things going with your mother?"

"Oh." Surprised, Finn stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Cool, you know. A little weird since she's missed out on so much mommy stuff. I'm kinda more like her bro than her baby right now, but it's nice how much she's trying."

Princess Bubblegum nodded fondly. "Sorry I haven't been to meet her yet. You know me; busy, busy, busy. Even with Aunt Lolly helping out, Peppermint Butler's been a handful. Really, the whole Golb incident left the kingdom a bit shaken. But there are great things on the horizon for it if today's meeting goes well."

"...!" Finn motioned somewhat impatiently for her to continue.

"Oh! Right! Your job for today." The princess cleared her throat. "It is simple, but important. I am about to depart for an informal princess meeting at this new restaurant Lady told me about. It serves escargot, minus the shells."

"So like...fried slugs?"

"Mm-hmm."

Finn made a face. "Gross."

"Hehe. Yeah. The whole thing was LSP's idea. Ever since she hooked up with Lemongrab, she's kinda been trying to get on my good side."

"Groooss." Finn noticed PB purse her lips. "I-I mean, I'm happy they found each other."

"Anywho, I'll need you to be my bodyguard for the trip. You see, even though the new Ice King has gotten hitched with Turtle Princess, our path will take us to the edge of the Ice Kingdom and the temptation might be too much for him. That area sees plenty of crime in general, so a lot could go wrong. It's up to you and your sweet sword to ensure not just my safety, but that of several princesses."

Finn nodded. "What I do best. I gladly accept, Bubblegum."

"Excellent. I'll be taking the Morrow, and loan you my royal swan for tailing it. Here are the instructions."

He was handed a booklet. "For what?"

"The swan."

"Oh."

"Aaand since I sorta sprang this whole thing on you last-minute, I actually have a reward for when you accomplish your mission."

"Whoa, a surprise?"

"No, I'm telling you what it is in advance. For incentivization's sake."

"Surprise is incentive!"

"Sorry, dude. Showing you now," she walked over to a padlocked armoire. As she passed, Finn picked up an especially nice scent from her. "Guess what it is."

"A new bionic arm!"

"Uh, no." The princess cocked her head. "Would you like one?"

"No..." Finn said pensively. "It's fine. I'm good without one. Please just show me the reward before my guesses get more awkward."

"With pleasure." She unlocked and opened the armoire. "Tadaaa!"

Finn looked down to behold...a bulky pair of goggles atop a box. "I...love it?"

"What? Don't you know what this is? I guess it's more vintage than I thought." Princess Bubblegum blew the dust away. "It's a stereoscope! Also known as a stereo slide viewer. Here, take a peek through it."

Finn squinted straight into the goggles. "I seeee a bunch of rocks sittin' in a circle. They're nice rocks and all, but..."

"According to this info sheet, they're called 'Stonehenge'," read the princess. "Back in the day, humans considered them a very famous monument."

"Humans did?"

"Yeah, this box is full of pictures and stuff like this. I found them in my mines the other day and I just knew you'd appreciate it. I'm sure your mother would too, so make sure you do a good job on this mission, okay? Don't let nobody mug me! Or else I'll keep all this to myself, and never talk to you again."

"Haha! Sounds like you're threatening to file for divorce, milady."

"I will, and I'll take Goliad and Stormo with me," the princess deadpanned.

"Nooo, not the kids!" Finn fake-cried. "They're my whole world!"

They shared a laugh over that.

"Seriously, Peeb. This is...!" Without thinking, he motioned toward her, only to stop short at the sight of her joyful face. Seamlessly, he eased back. "An amazing reward. Thank you."

"No problem. I never would've used it anyway. We should get going now."

"Yeah." Finn stared after as she slipped out the window with her suitcase.  
He clutched the stump of his arm and took a deep breath before following after her. The two proceeded to the roof where the royal swan was resting. With a hint of nervousness, Finn mounted it and wrapped his arm around its neck.

"Be gentle with her."

"It's a girl?"

"Pretty much." The princess shrugged. "It might be a long wait once we get to the restaurant; you know how chatty the other princesses can be. I'll save you both some breadsticks if they're good."

"You mean if_ I'm_ good?"

"Nope. SKREEEE!"

At its mistress's cry, the Morrow zoomed in front of her and she immediately climbed aboard.

"Be sure to keep up, Finn!" she called back as it took off.

"Oh, uh. Go, swan, go!" the human commanded. "...please."

With a low honk, the swan flapped its wings and trailed behind the Morrow.

"Haha! Wow..." Finn marveled at the view.

Somehow it was like he was seeing the top of the Cotton Candy Forest for the first time, even though he'd seen it a gazillion times from up on Jake's back. He supposed the flying motion made it different somehow. Recalling his mission, he scanned his surroundings for any threats, but found nothing. Inevitably, his gaze fell upon Princess Bubblegum, her long, sticky hair flowing in the wind. He still remembered how good it smelled.

"..." Finn looked away in frustration.

He didn't even know what the heck he was thinking when he leaned toward her earlier. When the princess showed him the stereoscope, he just felt so happy. Happy like he wanted to...

"BUT I CAN'T, THOUGH!" he exclaimed, startling the swan. "Shh, shh. Sorry, girl. I'll just think about something else. Suppression. What I do second best."

He attempted to focus on whether or not he wanted a new arm. Minerva had been pushing for him to get one so he wouldn't have phantom pains. But he really didn't feel like he needed one. Now he just saw being one-armed as a new adventure. Finn the One-Armed Human. Finn "One Arm" Mertens. Armo. They were good, memorable hero names. He remembered back to what seemed like an eternity ago; the first time he lost his arm. The break-up with Flame Princess, meeting Martin, and losing a limb, were too much for him then. Thankfully, he was able to grow a new arm with Breezy's help. Breezy and her undying floral love was so inspiring to Finn...it inspired him to see a vision of Princess Bubblegum with the Finn sword...dangit. He thought about her again.

"At least I know I should be past this. Right...?"

He wished he still had Fern to talk to.

It didn't happen often, but Finn would occasionally feel something akin to that old love he had for Princess Bubblegum well up inside of him. Sometimes he even wondered about that old piece of her hair he abandoned on the (now destroyed) treehouse. By the will of Glob, he was always able to hide it expertly. He'd certainly had sufficient practice over the years.

The human heaved a sigh. He'd been her knight and friend all this time and that's how he wanted it to be...or did he just settle because he knew that's how it needed to be? In any case, there was no need to pursue her; he was in love with Huntress Wizard, but he was cool not being with her. He loved Flame Princess, but felt totally fine just being bros with her. Why was it PB that kept pulling him back? If Finn could guess, it'd be their history. He knew and loved PB for so long, and undergone so much (good and bad) because of that. But he knew very well by now and PB could never be; she was back with Marceline and she'd made her feelings for him clear. The hours he'd spent crying over her were hours wasted.

It tore him up inside to imagine how _ruined_ everything would be if he'd gone as far as to kiss her back at the castle. He could picture the disgusted look on her face.

_"'Scuse me, Finn."_

_"Finn. No...come on, Finn, don't be weird."_

_"Finn, I have citizens who need me! I can't always treat everything like a little boy game!"_

Of course, he'd grown past all that. He didn't wanna feel that way ever again.

"That biz with PB really messed me up. Nearly overstocked my vault. She's like a house of pink cards. Nah, nah...like a pretty pink venus fly trap. I've been so careful around her 'cause the thought of her clamping down on me is terrifying...huh?"

Only then did Finn notice the swan had a steady glide going, gradually nearing the grassy land of the Forest of Trees.

"Peebles! Hey, Peebs!" he called out, pitching his voice higher and higher. "This swan's dropping like a bad habit, what should I do?! PRINCESS!"

Unfortunately, Princess Bubblegum was too jamming out too hard to hear him. He quit shouting for her when her little dancing movements caught his eye.

"Yoo-hoo! PB's swan?" He whistled. "Flap them wings! Fly back up! Fly towards Mama! We gotta…!"

Convinced he was being ignored, Finn whipped out the instruction booklet. He also had his Night Sword's compass on standby in case he lost track of the Morrow. He flipped through the pages for info on his situation. By now, the swan was barely hovering above the ground, but still on course. At least Finn could still watch for threats in his position. His keen eyes fell upon a middle-aged human man with a mess of curly brown hair. He was wearing a multi-colored leotard.

"Hey, buddy," he greeted. "Name's Mark."

"Oh." Finn glanced back up the Morrow. "Hi. Mark."

"You're Minerva's boy, ain't ya?"

"That's me. But if you need help, I'm kinda in the middle of something important."

"Hmm?" Mark followed Finn's line of sight. "Goin' after that pink lady up there? I know all about chasing ladies."

"Yeah. Well, _no_! Not like tha—"

"There's an art to it. In fact, I've kinda stepped in it with a lady as of late..."

"Hohh…" Finn slumped against the back of the swan's neck. This guy gave off Martin-y vibes.

"Yeah, I have this ex-gal Alice. She loooves pasta. All kinds, too. Macaroni and rigatoni and all the -onis. We were together for five whole years, but she dumped me last week and got a new guy, like, the day after. While I'm still single and unsuccessful at mingle...ing," Mark went on. "It was REAL awkward on the boat trip over here, man. Their room was right next to mine. The odds! Some nights I could hear them, uhh...how old are you?"

"17."

"...ever given anyone an HBI?"

"Wha?"

"Y'know, shaboink? Pound the punanni pavement? At least seen a fur burger?"

"..."

"Well, some nights I could hear them, lemme leave it at that. I wasn't listening for it or anything, but the walls were thin. Haha. I'm so lonely. I have no friends or family."

"Dude, don't be like that..." As occupied as Finn was at the moment, he hated to see a fellow human upset. And Mark just seemed desperate for someone to talk things out with. "I dunno, if Alice's new boy bothers you so much, maybe you should let her know. Either things'll get better or they'll stay the same. You got nothing to lose, right?"

"Wrong, sir! It could always get worse. Once she knows he bugs me, what's to stop her from rubbing him in my face?"

"Alice wouldn't do that, probably."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. Because if you were together for that long, there was realness. On some level, you grock each other. Even though y'all didn't work out, I'm willing to bet she doesn't want any bad mayo between you two."

"I guess you're right..." Mark scratched his chin. "Maybe she'll even take me back."

"Nah, she put you in the dump. If she found someone else so fast, I doubt she'd change her mind. Good for you if she does, but don't count on it. Besides, you shouldn't want things to go back to how they were. That's cave allegory talk. You're single for the first time in years, dude, embrace it. It's another new adventure! Ain't there any stuff you miss doing from the old days before you and Alice hooked up?"

"Well, she convinced me to stop smoking. So should I start smoking again?"

"No, man. That's bad."

"Oh. Sheee helped me tidy my garage. Sorta miss the organized chaos of it. Should I fill my garage back up?"

"Maybe? Oh!" Finn's knees buckled as the swan raised into the air. "I got it! Bye, Mark! You'll figure it out!"

Mark waved to him. "Byyye!"

"Yeahhh, he'll figure it out. Man, Alice sounds awesome."

Finn really hoped they patched things up. In a matter of seconds, the swan was flying directly behind the Morrow once again and it was pretty smooth sailing for the mission from then on.

XXXXXXXLATERXXXXXXX

While standing patrol outside the slug restaurant, Finn spotted a couple suspicious characters, but a waggle of his sword proved enough to scare them off. Good thing, too, because he wasn't in much of a fighting mood. After a lengthy meeting, Princess Bubblegum bid her fellow royals goodbye and joined the boy outside on a bench.

"Hey, Finn."

"Hey, Princess."

"Got y'all some breadsticks." She kept some for herself, then distributed the rest between Finn and her swan. "The meeting ran a little long, but it went well. How were things for you?"

"Fine. Just fine. Ain't nobody messing with princesses on my watch." Finn stuffed his face. "Mmf, these are good."

"Well, it goes without saying the stereoscope's all yours. You're my hero yet again."

"...Bonnie? I've got something heavy-ish to tell you." Finn turned away slightly. "I almost don't want to, but I know I gotta get it off my chest and I hope you'll understand."

The princess's smile faded. "I'll try, Finn. Tell me."

"Well, you know I was i-in love with you for a long time. As much as I liked being friends, it was never enough for me. Even now, after I've accepted it'd never happen and all, those feelings'll resurface and I'll keep pushing them down. It took me freaking forever to even admit it to Jake before. And lately I guess I've been worried and want to know what it means. Like...if I'm just hopeless or something."

"Hmmm." PB bit into a breadstick. "Do you think you're still in love with me?"

"Heck no! I mean! I really don't want to be...ughhh." Finn began to regret bringing it up. "Can't you just upload my feelings into a computer and drag any lingering buh-bumps for you to the recycling bin? Or inject me with some kinda anti-gaga serum?"

"Heh. That's the thing about feelings. You can hide and suppress them, but never truly eliminate them. I know, I've tried. We all feel what we feel."

Finn hung his head in dissatisfaction. "Oh..."

"But feelings can change," Bubblegum added. "I think you're just confused and uncertain about how to interpret your feelings. After all the maturing you've done, don't you feel different? In deinem Herzen?"

"Yeah...like, the skin is calloused, but I'm _me_ at my peach pit."

"It's like Lemongrab, being cuckoo for LSP. Unlike the original LG would ever be. Or Marceline and I. Even when we split forever ago, I still cared for her, but with my growing responsibilities keeping us apart, I concluded that I wasn't in love with her anymore. With how hard she took the break-up, she must've thought the same. But we grew and changed to a point where we realized how real our 'buh-bumps' still are."

"Huh."

"You know, it's entirely plausible you were never in love with me at all. But your misinterpretation of your emotions was so convincing, it's jazzing you up now. It's all about perception. If you view somebody through the same lens, they'll always look the same to you, no matter how much has changed. So try seeing me through a new lens to match the other newness of your life. That sound right?"

Finn gave a cross-eyed stare. "I don't...know. All I know for sure is that I care about you. A lot. And your brains are really too much for me sometimes."

"Hm-hm," the princess smirked. "They sure are...I'm glad you shared all this, Finn."

"You're not weirded out?"

"Nah. I've found it's better to be open about these things. And I don't want you to be ashamed of them," her eyes grew big and sparkly. "Because I care a lot about you too, you know."

"I know." Finn patted her back as she hugged him. "Uh, can I ask a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Can I just shoot ONE laser from your swan? Pleeease?"

"Go ahead, Finn."

"Haha, pentagonal." Finn yanked the switch at the back of the swan's head, firing a blast from its mouth high into the sky. He smiled, truly content with his newfound insight on the deepest depths of his soul, and his love for PB. It was like leveling up.

_Bri-i-ing!_

"Oh. Bet that's Jake." Finn pulled his phone from his backpack. "It's ya boy Finn."

_"Hey, bro!"_

"Called it."

_"What?"_

"DUDE, where have you been? Bubblegum needed our help today and you wouldn't pick up."

_"Sorry, what'd she need us for? I was at the TR with Prismo."_

"Called it again," Finn whispered to the princess, who stifled a chuckle. "Well, she needed escorting to this princess meeting she was going to. But don't worry, I took care of it."

_"Oh, did ya?"_

"Yeah? What's with the accusatory tone, Jakers?"

_"Nothing, just...you and Bubblegum are so cool after everything. Y'know, all the heartache. I'd never be able to hang around with my ex like that. Too much stress on my neurons. I'm impressed with you, I guess."_

"Ohh!" Princess Bubblegum spoke up. "You're impressed Finn can stand hanging out with me, huh?"

_"OHHH, HEY, PRINCESS."_ Jake laughed nervously. _"Didn't know you were there!"_

PB put on an angry voice. "Clearly."

_"Haha, ahhh, you get what I was trying to say, right? Of course you do, you're a genius!" _The dog rushed through his words. _"A__'ight, see you two later!"_

_Click! Be-e-ep..._

The sun set to Finn and Princess Bubblegum's boisterous laughter.

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(A/N: _ok_, this took long enough, hope you liked iiit. please review, fave, point out any mistakes and check out my profile for more. laytah)


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